If you run a retail store, you would know that innovations are essential in moving the store forward, and what could be more innovative than the launching of new products? Introducing a new product into your store is tough, and getting customers to accept these products is even more difficult. We understand the great effort required to pull off a product launch and because of this, today, Arianna Lupi, Digital Marketing, SEO & SEM talks in our blog about the five reliable strategies that would ensure you have a smooth product launch in your store.

1.      Know Your Target Audience

Get familiar with your target audience.

Before you introduce a new product into your store, it is very important for you to understand and study your audience. This is a vital strategy you need to employ in order to ensure your customers find favour with the new product. It would also bring in potential customers to your business.

Knowing your target audience would determine the language, the channels and the methods you would use to advertise the new product to your clients. When you have a picture of what your clients would like, you would be able to know how to present the product in a way that will appeal to them.

The age, gender, income and other basic information of your customers could assist in the promotion of the product. Do not be afraid to ask your customers questions as part of your product research. This could be done in the form of surveys or focus groups for physical clients. Ensure that you know about your customers’ lifestyles, interests and dislikes; this is very essential.

It is also very important to take note of the previous items you sell to know whether the new item would be acceptable to your current customers. For instance, if you are running a hardware store, before introducing a new product not related to hardware, you have to be certain that it is acceptable to your present customers.

2.     Generate Some Buzz on the Product

Make use of Social Media to create buzz

Creating a website for your store is definitely not a bad idea. Websites help you with the advertisement and promotion of your business and products. In addition to having a website, opening social media accounts could also assist you with publicity. When it comes to publicity and operating a store, you have to be very smart; they go hand-in-hand.

Devise a strategy that would make the new product you want to launch in your store be seen in as many significant places as possible; ranging from your website to your social media accounts, down to a sign in front of your store. Get people curious and interested in the product. Pay close attention to your social media audience. Employ a Social Media Manager, if you cannot handle the pages yourself, who would create eye-catching captions and graphics about the product.

Suspense is also a very efficient way of building buzz around the new product before the launch. It would effectively get people curious and vested in the product. You could do this in several ways. You could do a countdown on your website or you could put up a chalkboard sign in your store where you would be counting down manually. Whichever way you choose, just create some suspense.

Word of Mouth referral remains a traditional, yet trustworthy and effective method. Getting your friends, customers, staff, and so forth, to talk about the products to their friends and other customers is a sure-fire way to stimulate interest in the product.

When it comes to publicity and operating a store, you have to be very smart; they go hand-in-hand.

3.     Get an Influencer

Celebrity endorsements on products work like magic. If Beyoncé says a particular feminine item “is great”, many women will think twice about walking past it in the store! You, however, do not have to get a major celebrity to give support to your new product; you could get a local celebrity in your community or a well-known Social Influencer to do an on-camera interview about the value of the product.

Making connections with influencers would help you with your product outreach, reaching your target audience, and building the trust of the people in the product. These connections could take on several forms. For instance, giving the influencer or influencers you choose this product for free could get them to support the product and give it the needed exposure.

Getting a local celebrity to be the face of the new product in your store could provide the needed push to get your customers to come trooping into your store for the purchase of the product. The celebrity could act as the brand ambassador for the product. It might cost you extra, but you should be willing to do what you can to make the product launch a huge success.

It is important to note, at this point, that the influencer or endorser you get for this new product must match the demographics that you got from your target audience. In simpler words, if the target audience of your product is teenagers, do not get a senior citizen to be your endorser and vice versa.

4.     Appeal to Your Customers

Appeal to your customers through special deals

Sometimes, letting your customers give the new product a spin before they buy it could convince them of the quality of the product. Some people could be wary of buying products that are strange to them, especially if they are already used to other products.

Giving out samples of the new product to some of your customers would give you an insight into how your customers feel about the product and it is also an excellent way to appeal to them. It is a proven way to get feedback on the new addition to your store. Just let the products speak for themselves.

If Beyoncé says a particular feminine item “is great”, many women will think twice about walking past it in the store!

Deals are another sweet way to get the products flying off the shelves. Imagine scrolling through an online store and you see a sign that says “50% off for the 1st 50 buyers”, you would surely want to see what the product is about. Similarly, before the product is launched in your store, offer your customers sweet deals such as discounts, coupons, free shipping, “buy one, get free” etc. Who does not like “almost” free stuff? This would appeal to them and encourage them to get the product once it is set in motion.

Modern-day consumers rely on reviews from real people online before they decide to purchase a product. So, putting positive reviews from previous users of the product on your website or Social Media is a strategy you could employ to get more customers to check out the product.

Using visually appealing methods to draw attention to your product is a guaranteed way to get your clients on board with the product. Make use of beautifully designed flyers and signboards to get your customers to buy into the idea of a new product in your store.

5. Make Use of  Your Business Roadmap

If you did not create a business roadmap when you launched your store, then, now would be a good time to do so. A roadmap gives you an idea of where your business is headed and how you plan to get there over time. It is somewhat similar to a business plan, but a roadmap gives you a higher level of visualization and lets you see the bigger picture.

Roadmaps illustrate your business’ objectives, goals and the strategies you hope to adopt to achieve them. They provide visuals about these goals and strategies. Oftentimes, you could have numerous ideas for your store, and just writing them down may not cut it. This is where roadmaps come in. They complement your ideas and bring them to life.

Whenever you intend to introduce a new product into your store, crosscheck with your roadmap to ensure you are on track. Be certain that the adoption of this product does not derail you from your original goal and objective; instead, let the products help in their achievements. Using a roadmap template, you can ensure that you cover all the bases and that nothing is left out.

Proper planning is essential in making your product launch a great success.

Also, when launching a new product, you could make use of a roadmap for the process. Included in the roadmap for your launch would be what you aim to achieve with the addition of the product to your store and the actions you want to employ in making your good/service launch a success. Roadmaps take care of every little logistics concerning the launch.

Conclusion

Introducing a new product to a store is no easy feat. It could go either way; your customers could love it or not. A huge percentage of products fail to yield profits because they did not appeal to the targeted customers. Proper planning is essential in making your product launch a great success. Having adopted these strategies, all that is left for you is to incorporate the product into your store and see your hard work paying off. Good luck!